Schoolchildren need to be given 'concentration lessons', to fight the effects of social media and digital gadgets which lead to short attention spans, claims shadow Education Secretary Tristram Hunt.

The Labour minister wants youngsters to be taught 'attentiveness' in a bid to improve communication skills and better prepare them for the world of work.

Mr Hunt is this week due to propose a raft of education reforms aimed at moving schools away from being mere 'exam factories'.

Speaking to the Independent newspaper, Mr Hunt said children 'need to learn the ability to concentrate for sustained periods - especially in today's world of short attention spans.

'I think young people need help with being able to do that'.

There is increasing concern that social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter are having a negative effect on childrens' brain development.

A 2010 study found seven in 10 British teachers believed children were becoming more and more obsessed with social media with half of those polled believing the fixation was affecting their ability to concentrate in class.

Since then the use of social media sites has increased dramatically with smartphones allowing youngsters quick and easy access to the sites.

Many teachers have claimed the children with the poorest grades at school are the ones who spend the most time social networking.

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Mr Hunt, who is due to outline his proposals in a speech on Wednesday, dismissed what he described as the government's 'Gordonstoun cold showers approach' to character building.

He said attentiveness, communication and self-reliance were too often dismissed as 'soft skills', arguing that they are an important factor in developing well-rounded young adults

Mr Hunt will this week propose a raft of education reforms aimed at moving schools away from being mere 'exam factories'

He added: 'Of course, it's important
that we concentrate on improving literacy and numeracy, getting five A*
to C grades at GCSE and the like.

'But the point is that you can improve your chances of success if you look to a child's emotional well-being as well'.

Following last year's exam results, teachers were accused of turning children into ‘exam robots' with many teenagers sitting papers multiple times in a desperate bid to boost grades and skew school league tables.

Nearly 100,000 pupils – one in ten – were revealed to have taken maths on at least three occasions, while two sat the exam eight times.

Katja Hall, policy director for the
Confederation of British Industry said: ‘The sheer scale of multiple and
early entries is astonishing. Employers don’t want exam robots – they
want young people who are academically stretched, rounded and grounded.

Education Secretary Michael Gove has been criticised for encouraging a 'nerdy', old-fashioned style of teaching

'Turning schools into exam factories and cramming two years’ syllabus into one benefits no-one.

‘A GCSE should be an assurance of ability, not a consolation prize for surviving months of continual testing and retesting.’

Last week Education Secretary Michael Gove pledged to continue his war against what he describes as ‘the Blob’ – left-wingers he accuses of being complicit in underperformance in schools.

He accused its members of refusing to budge from support for discredited, ‘trendy’ attitudes to teacher training, classroom standards and qualifications.

‘I have a clear view and a specific plan about how we can drive improvement in state education and that involves challenging people who have been complicit in underperformance in the past,’ he said.

‘It’s not surprising that there are some people – some people within the trade unions, some people within university education faculties – who are opposed.

‘But what’s striking is that the changes that we’re making – giving more powers to headteachers, insisting on higher standards of behaviour, recruiting better teachers who are subject specialists – all of these changes are backed overwhelmingly by the public.’

Mr Gove said one reason he was unpopular with some teachers was because he was seeking to encourage a ‘nerdy’, old-fashioned style of teaching, telling Channel 4 News: ‘I’ve never set out to be popular. Nerds are cool. We should celebrate academic attainment.’

Mr Hunt said Mr Gove was seeking a permanent ‘Maoist revolution’ in education.